Security Blankets
by satomobile
Summary: Lin stays vigilant at Tenzin's bedside as he recovers from the fight against the Red Lotus. Oneshot.


A dull tingle worked its way through her upper arm and still, she did not move. She hadn't moved in hours, posted beside his bed with one hand curled protectively around his long fingers. She couldn't bring herself to break away, somewhat superstitiously believing that letting go would release his soul from his body as soon as it would release his hand from hers. The notion was absurd and she understood this, but just to be on the safe side she remained stationary.

He did too. He hadn't moved at all since they'd laid him here in the sick bay of their airship. It was chaos at first- they narrowly held the Red Lotus off- just long enough to drag the limp bodies of Aang's children inside.

The others had escaped, Bumi informed them. He said he watched the newest members of the Air Nation glide overhead on their bison as he and his sister struggled for breath, side by side in the dirt.

"I don't think they saw us…it's a good thing you spotted us down there, Bolin!"

Bumi and Kya were pretty banged up; cracked ribs and concussions were their departing gifts from the members of Zaheer's gang. Korra moved to heal them as quickly as possible, getting Kya well enough to help her in her task.

It was Tenzin who required the most attention. He had been thoroughly beaten and was certainly near death when they picked him up. Tears ran down Kya's cheeks as her hands waved over his wounds, fighting an uphill battle with nothing but water on her side.

When he had been deemed stable enough, Kya looked to Lin.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, " she replied, "Go check on Su and then get some rest. I'll stay with him."

Kya nodded, gently tugging at Korra's elbow as she moved to exit, "I'll need your help."

With one longing look at Tenzin's swollen features Korra finally obliged, following her waterbending mentor out the door.

When the door slid closed, Lin finally let out a breath. Tears followed suit, quietly making their way from the corners of her eyes. She pressed one hand against her face, sniffling once before sobering herself. She was scared.

Truly scared in a way she hadn't been in years.

She had lost many things in her life, but she wasn't sure she could survive losing him. No matter how estranged they were these days; there was some small comfort in knowing he was out there in the world somewhere- breathing, smiling, fretting in that way he did. She was certain the world would be a notably darker place without him in it.

With a sigh, she sat in the chair beside his bed, stretching her arm out to grip his hand. There were cuts along his knuckles and the skin on his palms was rough to the touch, shredded and scraped from attempts to stop himself skidding along the pavement, no doubt.

She held his hand gently, mindful of each laceration. She couldn't lose him, even if he wasn't hers to lose anymore.

It was a strange thought to cross her mind then, and she immediately recalled her mother's old joke that Tenzin was her security blanket. Growing up- Bumi sucked his thumb, Kya had a doll she never let go of, and Su slept every single night with the same blanket she'd been wrapped in as a newborn, but Lin never had any object of that nature.

It was Tenzin; Toph had decided when she was around seven years old.

"Can't go anywhere without each other, huh?" she'd laugh. Katara agreed with a smile, noting Tenzin had been markedly detached from any such talisman, save the small hand of his closest friend.

"You two _are_ always holding hands," Katara stated with an amused laugh. It was embarrassing enough that Lin had ripped her hand out of his grasp with a scowl. She remembered the look on his face, how mournful he was to see her pull away.

She wouldn't let him go today. She squeezed his hand lightly, hoping that somehow he would get her message- _I won't pull away this time._

There was no immediate response and she looked out into the room, thinking through every scenario in which she could enact her vengeance on Zaheer for this. She thought about it until her blood boiled and then cooled again as she finally drifted off to sleep.

A gentle pitch of the airship woke her. They weren't landing; she could still hear the motors whirring as they always did in steady flight.

They were being boarded.

Lin sat up, suddenly alert. Her arm was entirely asleep, hand still gripping Tenzin's. A minute passed in tense silence. The alarms never came on, but she watched the door anyway- prepared to fight if needed. There were no sounds of struggle outside the room and after another tense minute Lin began to convince herself she'd simply imagined their dip in altitude.

She remained vigilant anyway, attention focused on the door until she felt a light squeeze on her tingling fingers. Lin turned to see Tenzin's swollen eyes, opened the slightest bit. He was looking at her, but he said nothing.

She leaned back in her chair, laying her head against the back of it to meet his eyes lovingly, "Hi," she whispered.

He swallowed, "Hi," he managed to reply in a raspy voice. The pad of his thumb lifted slightly to glide back and forth gently across her knuckles. She smiled in response, eyes glistening with unshed tears. He held her gaze as his thumb did the talking, voice too weak and hoarse to convey his gratefulness.

The door pushed open with a sound that was deafening in their bubble of silence and Pema appeared on the other side, eyes fixed on her husband's bruised body with unbridled worry.

Lin felt his hand twitch, pulling out of her grasp with suddenness that almost made her gasp.

Pema ran forward, "Tenzin!" she cried, coming to the opposite side of the bed to touch his cheek gently, "I was so worried." His children appeared just as quickly as his wife had and they ran into the room with urgency, "Dad! You're okay!" They surrounded him, throwing questions at him rapidly.

"How did you get away?"

"Did you fight that lady with the water arms?"

"Does it hurt if I press right here?"

Lin shifted in her chair, palm empty. She reached over with her opposite hand to massage the blood back into her sleeping limb, just as Ikki moved between her chair and the bed.

Lin stood, ready to offer some parting assurance that he would recover in time, but found that nobody looked to her for these words. She remained there a moment, outside the circle of his family- a cipher.

She moved toward the door without a word. Not a single head turned to see her go. Quietly, she slid the door closed, giving her security blanket and his family some time alone.


End file.
